Rumsfeld's Style, Goals Strain Ties In Pentagon

Presiding over a Pentagon thick with tension is an ironic position for an administration that came to office promising to show new respect for the military. In Congress and elsewhere in Washington, some now are questioning whether the military feels free to give its best advice to the administration -- or whether that advice is being welcomed.

"I've heard repeatedly about the lack of trust between the secretary and the uniformed officers," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the Armed Services Committee and a former Army officer who commanded an infantry company in the 82nd Airborne Division. "That, I think is a problem," particularly, he added, with the administration contemplating an invasion of Iraq.

"If there is an atmosphere where contrary views aren't well received, you may move into an operation that isn't well-advised," a three-star officer warned.

Myers, in an interview, denied that he or any other senior officers feel constrained in speaking their mind to Rumsfeld or raising objections about pending military operations. "It has never been easier to express our opinion, our thoughts, with any secretary," Myers said. "There is ample opportunity, in fact, encouragement, to present other views and disagree. . . . I think it's very, very healthy."

Victoria Clarke, Rumsfeld's spokeswoman, cited a series of "spectacular accomplishments" at the Pentagon -- a new defense strategy, a nuclear posture review, a restructured missile defense program, far more realistic budgeting procedures, and an ambitious agenda for "transforming" the military -- and said they simply could not have happened without close civilian-military relations.

"It's extraordinary that those things got done, in the face of amazing resistance to change, at the same time we were prosecuting the war on terrorism," Clarke said, adding that Rumsfeld "not only welcomes, but encourages, dissent."

Rumsfeld's Revolution

While issues of great substance lie at the heart of Rumsfeld's unsettled relationship with the military, discussion of the current environment at the Pentagon invariably begins with assessments of the defense secretary's powerful personal style.

Even Rumsfeld's detractors admit he is a man of considerable energy and intellect who is pushing the right issues and raising many of the right questions at the Pentagon. Rumsfeld, 70, is universally praised for his handling of the war in Afghanistan, where he and other members of the Bush Cabinet insisted on a bold plan for toppling the Taliban and driving al Qaeda out of the country.

What appears at times to be indecisiveness on Rumsfeld's part, according to one senior officer, stems from his deep personal involvement in operational planning. "The guy wants to see [a plan] at the 30 percent level, and the 60 percent level, so it's become a very iterative process, and it's been hard for the bureaucracy to adjust to that," the officer said. "It's good in the sense that the man is talented and has tremendous insight into the political process. The only time it's bad is having" to make decisions rapidly in the context of ongoing operations.

But the result, said one White House aide, is that "it's hard to get decisions out of the Pentagon, because he doesn't delegate."

It has become a truism in national security circles that Rumsfeld has been a better secretary of war than secretary of defense. Rumsfeld has two dominant priorities. The first is reshaping the U.S. military from a heavy, industrial-age force designed in the Cold War to an agile, information-age force capable of defeating more elusive adversaries anywhere on the globe.

Rumsfeld's second priority, about which he has been less open, is reasserting civilian control over a military establishment that had grown autonomous -- and, many believe, too cautious -- during the Clinton years. Indeed, Rumsfeld has pushed throughout the war on terrorism for bolder plans from the military. Under his stewardship, war planning has become far more effective and imaginative, said a former official who otherwise is critical of Rumsfeld.

"This guy really is trying to get [the Pentagon] to work for him," said one former defense official. "I don't think he's chosen the right path. But it's not a question of him being the devil and everyone else is a misunderstood angel."

If Rumsfeld returned to the Pentagon in January 2001 predisposed to see senior military officers as dull and uncreative, as many believe, he has since shown a willingness to reassess their capability. Officers, even those unhappy with Rumsfeld's approach, say relations between his office and the uniformed branches have improved as both sides have come to better understand how to interact, thanks in part to the crucible of the war in Afghanistan.